Art Institute of Chicago

Seed Jar with Sikyátki Motifs

Nampeyo (Hopi-Tewa Corn Clan, 1859–1942)

Date

c. 1895–1910

Medium

Ceramic and pigment

Culture

Hopi Tribe of Arizona

Department

Arts of the Americas

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Since historical records have been kept, Pueblo potters have been almost exclusively women. There is every reason to expect that this has always been true. Nampeyo became the most famous potter who revived Hopi ceramic art around the turn of the 20th century. Drawing upon archaeological Sikyatki shapes, colors, and motifs, Nampeyo created her own inventive designs, continuing the Pueblo tradition of resynthesis and renewal. Today her descendants Dextra Quotskuyva Nampeyo and Fannie Nampeyo carry on the tradition, along with many other excellent potters throughout the Pueblo world.

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